My Impression from Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library is...

Everything is eerily the same or an echo of the same 60 years later. Same slogans, same worries about Russia, Israel/Palestine. Same "vote like your life depends on it" type of hype.

However in 1960s Texas my partner would have been considered black and unable to dine in the same restaurant with me. Things have gotten much better in many ways.

From John F. Kennedy's speech "Watchmen on the Walls of Freedom":

"There will always be dissident voices heard in the land, expressing opposition without alternatives, finding fault but never favor, perceiving gloom on every side and seeking influence without responsibility Those voices are inevitable.

"But today other voices are heard in the land-voices preaching doctrines wholly unrelated to reality, wholly unsuited to the sixties, doctrines which apparently as- sume that words will suffice without weapons, that vituperation is as good as victory and that peace is a sign of weakness. At a time when the national debt is steadily being reduced in terms of its burden on our economy, they see that debt as the greatest single threat to our security At a time when we are steadily reducing the number of federal employees serving every thousand citizens, they fear those supposed hordes of servants far more than the actual hordes of opposing armies.

"We cannot expect that everyone, to use the phrase of a decade ago, will "talk sense to the American people." But we can hope that fewer people will listen to nonsense. And the notion that this nation is headed for defeat through deficit, or that strength is but a matter of slogans, is nothing but just plain nonsense.

"I want to discuss with you today the status of our strength and our security because this question clearly calls for the most responsible qualities of leadership and the most enlightened products of scholarship. For this nation's strength and security are not easily or cheaply obtained-nor are they quickly and simply explained There are many kinds of strength and no one kind will suffice. Overwhelming nuclear strength cannot stop a guerrilla war Formal pacts of alliance cannot stop internal subversion, displays of material wealth cannot stop the disillusionment of diplomats subjected to discrimination Above all, words alone are not enough The United States is a peaceful nation. And where our strength and determination are clear, our words need merely to convey conviction, not belligerence. If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself If we are weak, words will be of no help."